Chapter 1: The End of the Payne
Chapter 1: The End of the Payne
It was a cold autumn afternoon in New York. Mondays always meant the time to take a day off, especially for Max Payne. People talked on their cellphones, buses beeping and trucks roaring down the street to get to their drop off spot. The city was always full of lunatics, rapists and serial killers waiting for a chance to do their thing, even in broad daylight. Kids ran down the street and piling into school before they got the Iron Fist for being late.
Max was relaxing on a park bench as the orange leaves brushed past his feet. He wore a nice, sleek black suit and designer shoes for the occasion. He was eating a hotdog, with ketchup and a little bit of relish. He also had a hidden Forty in a paper bag to get rid of the relish taste. Too much at a time leaves a bad taste in Max’s mouth. He was waiting for a contact, waiting for a new job. But with Max’s experience in the work force, he was only cut out for one job, like a christmas tree cookie cutter you only use on that special time of the year. It was a calm and quiet, something Max didn’t get as often as he wished. A woman sat down next to Max, catching his attention. She looked like a jogger with an iPod strapped to her thigh. It wasn’t uncommon for people to be jogging in the afternoon, it was the craze in New York nowadays. She took out a flash drive and gave it to Max. Max nodded and the jogger got back up, going about on her daily jogging route.
Max sighed and stood up. He took one final swig at his cheap liquor before throwing it out in a garbage can.
“Time to get started...” Max mumbled and walked back home.
Meanwhile, in Ponyville, things were going according to plan for Twilight Sparkle and her dearest assistant Spike. She was in her library, checking things off of her list, making sure it is doubly checked and triple checked. As for the poor green dragon, having to put up with this “injustice”, he checked off the things on the list for the overly secure egghead of a purple unicorn.
“Ink?” Twilight chirped happily as she put the items into her bag.
“Check...” Spike droned.
“Quills?”
“Check.”
“Journal?”
“Check.”
“Alright, that’s that! We’ve double and tripled checked this whole library and we’re ready to open for the day!” A loud knocking came from the door and Twilight trotted to the door as Spike sighed a breath of relief and put the clipboard away. I might just need to see Fluttershy later this day, this stinks! Spike sighed again and shook his head. The door creaked open as Twilight craned her neck to see who it was. Seeing no one was in sight, she was just about to close the door when she noticed a box on her doorstep. A neatly placed box with a bow on it.
“Who could this be from?” Twilight said to herself. She picked up the box with her hoof, but couldn’t move it. “Why is it so heavy? I didn’t order anything today, did you Spike?” Twilight turned her head to an exhausted Spike who slowly shook his head. Twilight thought this was odd and all of a sudden, a bright pink blur crashed into Twilight.
“Surprise, Twilight! Happy Birthday!” Pinkie Pie jumped around the lavender mare, throwing confetti and blowing on streamers. She reached into her mane and pulled out a cake, neatly topped with strawberries and a “Happy Birthday Twilight!” inscription on top. It was impressive, being able to stuff a cake into one’s mane but it was Pinkie Pie, so it wasn’t at all a feat worth praising for.
“How did you know it was my birthday, Pinkie?” Twilight rubbed her head and touched her horn, wincing at how much of a powerhouse Pinkie was.
“I know everything, you silly filly! How can you forget?” Pinkie flashed her signature grin and put down another present on the floor. She tapped the top and it exploded, full of banners and ponies that came along to celebrate Twilight’s party. Fruit punch, snacks and flowers landed onto tables strewn about the library. Spike was under a pile of books during the whole process and brushed himself off.
“Man, why am I always getting the bad end of the stick?” Spike whined and started to go upstairs when a distinct voice called for him.
“Oh, dear Spike! Are you alright? You look like a wreck.” Rarity trotted up the stairs to meet Spike, brushing off some dust from his spikes. Spike melted like putty in the hooves of his crush and like a drunkard nodded his head off.
“W-why of c-course! T-thanks a lot R-r-r-r-rarity!” Spike slumped against the railing as Rarity continued to tend to Spike. Rainbow was rubbing her wings when she popped out of the magical box, along with Fluttershy and Applejack.
“So that’s why you stuffed me into this box! I thought we were going to a party, not being shipped across Equestria!” Rainbow stretched her spine and with a satisfying snap, she used her wings to hover across the crowd.
“Ah, yes. It’s quite... interesting, being put in a box.” Fluttershy squeaked. She dug her hoof into the wood and noticed the large amount of ponies that were also put into the box and hid behind Applejack, who at the moment, were talking to some folk about how the apple season was coming up.
“Ah just can’ wait for tha Apple season, we’re makin’ lots a’ more of them famous Apple cider since it hit th’ shelves like them zap apples!” Applejack smiled when the ponies she was talking too murmured in excitement, double the cider! She tilted her stetson in success which inadvertently covered her large smile.
“My, Pinkie Pie! What a pleasant surprise, inviting all these ponies to celebrate my birthday. I never had this much people come to my birthday party, it was usually Mr. Smarty Pants, my mom and dad.” Twilight blushed and felt a little down but Pinkie slapped her back.
“Oh, Twilight! You have us friends to celebrate all the parties! We’re your friends!” Pinkie smiled, which made Twilight tear up a bit.
“Thanks, Pinkie. I really mean it. This means a lot to me.” Twilight started to cry, which caught the attention of the crowd. Rainbow landed beside Twilight and gave her a soft push.
“Oh c’mon egghead, don’t cry. This is your birthday! It’s supposed to be awesome!”
“Yes, lighten up, dear. This is the supposed to be the best day of your life!” Rarity also stood next to her.
“Uhm, yes, stop crying Twilight, it’s okay.” Fluttershy rubbed Twilight’s back in an attempt to soothe Twilight.
“We’re all here for ya Twilight, we’re your friends!” Applejack gave her an apple, a bright red apple that Twilight could see herself smiling whilst sobbing at the same time.
“GROUP HUG!” Pinkie exclaimed and she hugged Twilight hard, almost choking her and stopping her tears. Other ponies also came to hug the now ecstatic Twilight, laughing as sher day started to brighten up. A rumbling came from outside and it stopped momentarily before the front door opened up to Princess Celestia and Luna, who surprised the guests. All of them bowed but they waved them off, making them stand up.
“Princess Celestia and Princess Luna! What are you doing here?” Twilight asked.
“Why, Twilight, thou couldn’st have missed thy birthday.” Luna spoke. She was getting used to the way ponies spoke now, after being banished for 1000 years on the moon. Although she was feared at first, she earned most ponies respect and they treat her with the same level like Princess Celestia.
“Yes, yes. You are my dearest student after all, Twilight Sparkle.” Celestia trotted over to the punch bowl, where ponies stood away from Celestia, fearing that they might get in trouble if they don’t.
“Please, my little ponies, no need for the formalities. We are all guests here. Please, do the same for my dear sister as well.” The ponies sighed and returned back to their positions, but some were still nervous when either Princess came close.
Twilight sighed. Can this day get any better?
Gunshots rang out from the apartment building Max was in. He was on the roof, pitted against a group of mobsters he was ordered to take out, mainly because they were the ones that shot at him first. The type of shit I get myself in, how the hell do I always get out alive? Max pondered for a few seconds before the cover he was hiding in got shot at. Max jumped out and time slowed down drastically. Max could virtually deal damage to any enemy in his Bullet Time, a strange but unique ability Max can wield after a set amount of time. Too long of a strain would make Max nauseous and woozy, but Painkillers took care of that. Max continued to dive out of cover, twisting his body in the process to avoid any incoming bullets. He sprayed into the group and hit the roof into another spot of cover. Two mobsters hit the roof, dead. The other three, nervous but still a little cocky, decided to jump over to the other building to get to Max. One jumped but was shot by Max, falling down through the narrow crack and slamming into a dumpster. The remaining enemies realized they had to get out and booked it, before being gunned down consecutively.
Max choked down a bottle of painkillers and sighed. Just like any other stinking job... The seas will be red with my name as the owner of it. Max scratched his head and he ran down back to floor level. People were crowding over the apartment building during the whole ordeal and quickly scattered when Max opened the front door. His suit was full of bullets and dirt from all that rolling and dodging around. He holstered his pistol and got back to his car, driving back home. He arrived at a run down apartment building and got out of his car. He stepped inside and took the elevator ride up to the 18th floor and exited to turn down a hallway. At the end, Max entered the last room and slammed the door shut, opening the fridge to take out a warm bottle of beer.
“At least I’m getting money for doing this crap.” Max sighed. A rustling was heard and a fat envelope was slipped through Max’s door mail slot. “Speak of the devil.” Max got up and cut opened the envelope. Inside was a stack of hundreds and a note.
Hello, Max
Thanks to your services, we paid you extra for doing a good job of stirring up the people of New York. Keep it up, we’ll contact you again soon. Max threw the note in the garbage can and looked at his stack of cash. Max counted the stack before taking out a shoebox and slipping it in.
“$5000 this time. Not bad, but not good either. I’m not gonna survive in this shithole if my rates are going to turn out like this.” Max started to relax and flicked on the TV when a knocking came at the door. “What am I, a celebrity?” Max opened the door and no one was in sight. He looked down and saw a package. Nice and brown, Max closed his door and opened the package. Beep. Beep. Beep. Max’s eyes widened. “A shitting bomb.” The bomb continued to beep, a timer on it’s side. 10 seconds left until it exploded. Shit. What to do... I can’t bring it outside, I’d kill the people in the vicinity. The trash chute is too far and if I were to plant it on someone else, the police will come and find me. Shit. Max’s head was furiously pouring in ideas as the timer continued to clock down. 5 seconds left. Max sighed and slapped his forehead, laughing. “What a way to burn out.” The bomb fizzled out when it reached zero. Max, confused, scratched his head got angry. He kicked the bomb. Not a good idea. The explosion knocked back Max out of the window. His last time seeing was of him soaring in the air and the floor of the apartment being demolished. He could hear screams from his neighbors, well, dead neighbors now, and he felt like shit. Painkillers can’t fix the Payne. Not anymore. Max started to plummet as his limp body gained velocity. He turned his body to take a look at how much longer this pain would go on. Only a few feet left.
Thud.
The party ended rather nicely, despite the fact of two royal sisters and an eccentric party pony with the illusive pink mane. Princess Luna and Celestia waved goodbye to Twilight and co. before getting back on their carriage, giving some cake to their escorts and guardsmen. Especially the pegasi who were flying the carriage were given some good chocolate ice cream cake, a Pinkie special recipe. Spike, the ever obedient give a sultry wave goodbye to Rarity, the love of his life. Twilight used her magic to put everything back into order, the spills on the floor boards and the put the leftover cake in the fridge. Spike closed the door as the last pony left the library and sighed.
“Wow, what a party, Twilight. I wish we could have another like this!” Spike laughed and looked at the clock. “And it’s only 11:30 AM! I feel like all the energy has been sucked out of me.” Spike yawned and walked back to his bed, jumping onto it and pulling his favorite blankie over himself. Twilight giggled at the baby dragon and how easily he was tuckered out. Twilight decided to go out to get some more materials for the library, some new books, a new bookshelf, things like that. So she scrawled a note and left it on the table and set off to Canterlot.
The carriage ride at the airport was alright, the ride was comfortable enough and the ponies were kinda relaxed so it was a pleasant trip. Even though having over 40 pegasi carry a giant carriage and having the fear of one of them having a wing cramp was enough for Twilight to relinquish that relaxing mood. The carriage landed in the Princess Celestia International Airport, the PCIA, for short, and Twilight got off of the carriage. The airport was decked out, all marble, beautiful statues and delicious food, and a ceiling that had a painting from Michequinealo that illustrated a beautiful sky, the sun at its center piece. All of this for one airport dedicated to Princess Celestia. The Princess Luna International Airport was just as beautiful, obsidian floors that with a little magic, seemed to give off a relaxing mood. The midnight sky and full moon, and the plentiful stars painted by Pony Ross. His puffy round mane was always iconic in Equestria and some celebrities had even gotten hairstyles like his. Anyway, Twilight was always amazed every time she came to Canterlot. She exited the airport and trotted off to the Canterlot Library, which wasn’t far away from the airport, surprisingly. The old, quaint, peaceful place near the blasting sounds of rumbling carriages. Despite the distance, it was still pretty quiet in the library.
Twilight walked into the library and asked the librarian if she could buy some supplies. Typically, libraries don’t give stuff away, it’s common sense not to give away things you need. But, being Celestia’s prodigal student and all, the librarian pointed the way to the back. Twilight trotted happily away to the closet in the back. It contained massive amounts of items Twilight needed for her own small library back in Ponyville. Grabbing only the essentials, she thanked the librarian on her way out and exited the library.
She started to take a few steps down the stairs leading to the library when she heard a whirring sound.
“What is that noise?” Twilight said. It seemed pretty distant and none of the other ponies seemed to notice. She looked around for the noise and finally looked up. She saw a small, teeny speck of black, careening down towards Canterlot Castle. Twilight squinted to get a better view when it dawned on her. She gasped.
“What if that’s a meteor! What if it’ll destroy the castle! Princess Celestia and Luna will be hurt! But, maybe they took countermeasures, surely Princess Luna had foreseen this during the previous night or something...” Twilight, being the worry bug she is, quickly stuffed all the supplies in her knapsack and ran towards the castle, hoping she would make it in time.
Max felt a cool breeze running across his back. His eyes were shut, and it felt nice. It was dark, yet welcoming. So this is what death is like? Max thought. It was a long time, ever since he descended into a clinically insane state of mind. It was peaceful. But something didn’t seem quite right. If he was dead, why was he still able to think, or feel? Max tried to move, and surprisingly, he did move. But only a bit. He opened his eyes and was welcomed with bright white clouds flying up, past him. It took Max a minute to figure out that he was falling. Fast. Max used his body to maneuver around in the air to look down. He could see the bright green of the Earth. Colorful towns and forests as far as the eye can see. He looked directly down now and noticed a castle. Yellow and white in a few places, a waterfall, a mountain and it was also conveniently perched on a cliff. Max panicked, but started to calm down as he was charging straight for the pool of water by the waterfall. In a few seconds, Max hit the water, face first, causing a stinging sensation around his eyes and nose. Sinking into the liquid abyss, the cold water woke Max awake and he swam up, emerging like a dolphin (lol okay). The sight made Max slightly sick. It was like an oasis. Too peaceful, too care free. That means there must be some lot of corrupt people here, running the things, and what surprised him the most is that it doesn’t look like a hell hole. Max got out of the water and noticed he was at the base of the cliff.
“Some castle, an easy explosion can bring down the whole cliff and the castle.” Max scoffed and started to look around. Forest all around him, a good place for him to hide, but also easy to get lost in. Max noticed a dirt path not too far from his current location and also a sign post. Max hopped over a fence and peered over the sign.
“Ponyville, 100km east.” Max rubbed his chin. “Ponyville? What kind of name is Ponyville? Is it a ranch?” Max said quietly. “It is the only thing labeled here... Hmmm...” Max said.
The castle was just in sight for Twilight Sparkle’s furious rush through the dirt path. “Just a little longer and I’ll reach the front entrance to the castle.” Twilight said. She wasn’t the most athletic person like Rainbow Dash or Applejack, but she could still run if she paced herself.
“Where is this place, anyway?” Max said. He noticed a small line of text under the Ponyville sign.
Ponyville,the humble yet destructive town of Equestria. Max scratched his head.
“Equestria? Isn’t that some place in South Africa?” Max looked around again, to see if he was hallucinating. “It’s too green here. And there’s a shitting castle just a little further ahead.”
Twilight continued to speed trot her way to the castle, which was fairly big now that Twilight had closed a considerable distance.
“I can see the signpost from over her-” Twilight stopped. A weird... thing... stood, looming over the signpost. It wore black clothing and had hair on it’s head. Twilight gasped. A new creature! I haven’t seen these before! Not even when reading the books in the library had anything like this! Twilight giggled slightly. A small piece of her hair stood up, out of place, like a spear in the dirt. She took out her journal from her knapsack and spread it open, it’s spine resting on a small hill.
“Hehehehehehehehe!” Twilight cackled a little before taking out a quill and inkpot. Dipping her quill into the ink, she started to draw the creature in front of her.
“I feel uneasy.” Max said. He started to feel this way when his back tensed up and his eyes started to dilate. He continued to look at the sign, to hopefully hear the presumed attacker that would pounce onto him. Max stood up like a tree, looking over the sign into the wilderness. I only have my Desert Eagle in my holster. Max stealthily unholstered it and took out the clip. 7 bullets, a full clip. These damn bullet sizes take up the damn space, but they do the job. Max put the clip back in and checked his pockets. 7 clips. Max sighed.
“Now for the face. If only he turned around...” Twilight giggled maniacally on her small perch on her hill. Unfortunately, Twilight got her wish. Just the wrong kind. Max took out his pistol and shot at the general direction of where Twilight was. Twilight, not expecting her life in danger, panicked when a metal bullet whizzed a mere inch from her horn. She ducked behind her hill, clutching onto her journal for dear life.
“What in Celestia’s name was that?” Twilight gasped in between breaths. Max, seeing a purple blur, re holstered his gun and resumed his former look, looking past the sign and standing perfectly straight and still. “Did that... creature, try to attack me?” Twilight peeked out from the hill, and saw the creature still looking like before. “If it didn’t attack me, what did?” Twilight scratched her chin with her hoof.
Max, now knowing where the presumed “person” was hiding, he played it cool to tip him off. At least, he assumed it was a man. Max hopped the fence and made a mad dash into the plains. Twilight saw the creature run at a amazingly quick pace and decided to chase after it. She couldn’t was the time mulling over who tried to attack her. And this was an unknown creature in Equestria. Twilight stuffed her journal and quill back into her bag and used a tight cork to seal her inkpot. She then broke off on a mad dash towards the creature, who has ran a incredible amount of distance.
Max’s assumed attacker was now giving chase, because he can hear the footsteps of him just behind him. Rather, more than usual, not counting his own. Max decided to sprint full force, knowing his attacker doesn’t have a weapon. And right now, killing a resident of Equestria would kill his chances of making allies on getting back home. Max turned his head slightly, and quickly looked back ahead. A purple... horse with a horn? Max turned slightly behind again, to get a closer look. There it was, a purple unicorn running at Max, squeezing its eyes shut with a small blob of tears forming on the end, panting as it ran. Apparently, it was running pretty hard. What type of drugs have I been on? Maybe the painkillers are taking it’s toll on my body. Max continued to run as he rushed past the forest. The unicorn wasn’t letting up either.
The creature ran faster than Twilight could keep up with. Twilight had to give it her all and it was pretty straining on her muscles. She squeezed her eyes, so hard, that tears started to come out. She made a face that made her look kinda cute, but nonetheless, she was losing speed. Her magic would come in handy, but the teleportation spell would just teleport her past the creature. She had to pinpoint the exact coordinate as to where it would be in the next second, or it would just teleport her to a default of 10 feet.
And so, the two ran and ran, past the dirt road, far from the castle, and was nearing Ponyville when Twilight decided to just give up and teleported. Max kept running until a purple ball of thunder startled him and the unicorn was in front of him. Max couldn’t stop his running in time and the two collided with a soft squish sound. Twilight had her eyes closed the whole time and when she opened her eyes, she saw a belt. She felt a heavy weight on her horn and it was buzzing like crazy. She looked up and saw that her horn was...dug into the creature’s abdominales. Red liquid dripped from the area of penetration and it dripped onto Twilight’s face.
“Hi, I’m Max Payne, and I died to a unicorn.” Max’s body went limp and he came off of the horn, falling down onto the ground. Right infront of Ponyville. In front of every pony who just happened to be there, especially her friends.
“Oh Celestia.” Twilight eyes shrunk as she realized current situation she was in.